Tie down cleats are commonly used with rails having channels defined by side walls and a bottom surface disposed between the side walls. The top of each side wall typically has an inwardly extending leg disposed above the bottom surface. The tie down cleat is disposed along a rail with a portion of the tie down cleat including a lock plate being received within the channel, and movement selectively constrained through interaction of the cleat with at least a subset of the side walls, bottom surface, and legs.
Typically, a tie down cleat is associated with a rail using one of two approaches. One approach is to remove an end cap and then insert the portion of the cleat including the lock plate into the end of the rail. A problem with this approach is that a user has to physically remove a component to allow for installation of the cleat. The end cap may be lost, become damaged, or be difficult to reinstall. Moreover, the end of the rail must be accessible, typically reducing the overall length of rail available for use.
Another well known approach is to have a notch added at discrete points along the rail, wherein the portion of the cleat including the lock plate is inserted into the notch and then the tie down cleat slid away from the notch before the tie down cleat is locked into position at a fixed point away from the notch. The amount of usable rail length available to a consumer is reduced by adding a notch to the rail channel. Further, under some circumstances, if the tie down cleat becomes unsecured or creeps along the rail, it can suddenly escape from a notch.
Accordingly, an improved tie down cleat assembly allowing installation without removing a component or an end cap is desired. It would further be highly desirable to provide such a mechanism that may be secured anywhere along a vehicle surface adapted to receive the assembly.